Happy New YOP Year!

I'm joining fellow bloggers again in my third Year of Projects. The concept is simple.   Each blogger creates a list (however s/he wants to fashion it) and for a year posts about the progress made on this list.  My goal is to post every Sunday (July through June).  This weekly goal is hugely motivating for me.  

My weekly posts are progress reports (of a sort) with pictures, but I keep my actual list here and try to update it as the year progresses.  There's also a tab (under the banner of my blog) that will take one to my current YOP list.

The first part of my list is about processes. Techniques and new skills I hope to challenge myself to do throughout the year go here.  The second part of my list (Projects Completed) is basically an idea mill where I can plug in things that grab my attention (or as I start or finish them) during the year.



So here we go:

Techniques/skills/tools/education/experiences

Tunisian crochet - learn new stitch patterns. 

Knitting - challenge myself beyond the humble dishcloth.  Though I do love my knitted dishcloths...

Use a crochet or knitting tool I've never used before. 

Try to learn how to read a charted crochet pattern.  

Challenge myself regarding photos of finished objects.  Learn about and practice better picture-taking. Learn how to better use my camera.
         Read and apply lessons in Understanding Exposure. 
    
         Participate in Ravelry: Project Photography group: 
         
    
Read & review at least 1 book on fiber or textile arts.  

Continue creating a crafting space that is inviting and that works well for me 

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Projects Completed

In the spirit of creating actual projects my idea list includes:

- Item(s) for the home
      
       practical, but pretty:
         

       and purely aesthetic or whimsical:
  
           
- Finish BAM CAL blanket I began in January, 2017:

- Finish my Flower Garden Blanket:

- A shawl or poncho
          (finish my Lost In Time Shawl):

- Gifts given     
       
- Items made with the intention of someday gifting (but no current recipient)
        
- A garment

- Thread crochet 
        
- Something from a vintage pattern

- Something whimsical (I need more whimsy)
        
- Something(s) for charity/ministry
        Twiddle Muff  (finish the one I started last year): 

   
- A container  (a basket, a bowl, a box...)  
        
- Any number of items that just strike my fancy, but don't seem to fit anywhere else
        
- Knit items 

- Felting 

- Embroidery and/or cross stitch 
         Embroidered pillow cases  (finish these!):

- Sew something for the home  

- Sew an article of clothing 

- Crochet (or knit) from my stash - goal: diminish stash by 50% 

- Crochet my library - crochet from books or publications I own 

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Okay...that's good for starters.  I'm sure this will evolve over time, but I work best with a list that's open ended and idea-generating and, most importantly...flexible... as I progress through the year.

If this sounds interesting to you (to either join in with your own Year of Projects, or just see what others are doing), check out the Year of Project group on Ravelry.  While the YOP year begins on July 1st, you can join at any time!

Year of Projects end of year...

This is the second Year of Projects I've completed and once again I'm just amazed at how fast a YOP year goes by.   Here at the end of June, it's fun to take stock and see what all was completed since this time a year ago.

My official (and less interesting to look at) YOP list for this past year is here.

While the following isn't everything I've worked on and completed, it's a good representation:

 Some Goody Bags and a Tunisian stitch pillow 

Small doilies

A beginning to my Potholders for Posterity collection

Practical and just-for-fun projects

Gifts

Scarves

and more scarves

And of course, blankets

  colorful blankets...

Small projects

And projects with many parts (yet to be completed):

Knitting was something I tried my hand at this year and and while I didn't venture too far from making dishcloths, I did find that knitting dishcloths really did improve my stitch consistency and tension.  Maybe during the next YOP year I'll challenge myself to move beyond the humble dishcloth with my knitting needles.

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The Year of Projects project runs from the first Sunday in July through the last Sunday of June of the following year.  Next Sunday most of us will be posting our new lists.   Everyone's lists are different - some people create lists with specific projects and some of us prefer a more casual, open-ended sort of list.  We always love to see new bloggers join us so consider yourself invited to join in on the fun and camaraderie  of this weekly challenge!  There's no pressure to post each week, but each Sunday a new thread is opened in our group on Ravelry where members can post their Year of Projects post.   Come drop in and see what it's all about!

Wibbly Wobbly Fairly Isleish...

I started crocheting the Fair Isleish Cardigan this week.  On one hand I love how simple the pattern is.  On the other hand, I'm baffled at how each row starts with a loose single crochet and then a double crochet stitch.  For me this resulted in edges that are all wibbly wobbly:

Wishing now I had followed my instincts and started each row with a standing double crochet, but there wasn't a single complaint or caution in all the projects listed on Ravelry by people who had made this pattern, so I decided to just trust the pattern and do as the designer said.  I'm seriously wondering if the problem is me or the pattern.

Hopefully I can get all the crookedness blocked out before crocheting the bands on both sides of the center opening and all will be okay in the end.

We'll see.  I hope to finish this little sweater by next week for my final round-up of this YOP year's projects.    Next week is the wrap-up week and then on July 2nd we will all post our goals for the next YOP year.

On that note, let me issue another invitation to all you creative folks who also enjoying blogging.  We'd love for you to consider joining us in the Year of Projects group on Ravelry.  Come check us out and see what it's all about.

And let me leave you with a picture of me as a passenger today in a new Jaguar driven by my brother-in-law -- car salesman extraordinaire of very expensive cars.    He brought a Jag off the lot to our Father's Day celebration to give his dad a ride and some of the rest of us got in on the fun, too.

 

Happy Father's Day!

How hard can I make this?

Not much crocheting happened this week, but I did (and re-did) enough of a border on my Corner to Corner blanket to decide I didn't care for how the border was going, and decided I needed to put the whole thing aside until I find the inspiration to finish it in a way that I'm going to be happy with.

With that large project put in time-out just before the weekend I didn't think I had anything to show yarn-wise, but then I remembered that I never did show a square I crocheted - back in April, I think.  It's only square #5 for my BAM (Block-A-Month) Blanket:

I remember after I made this block I felt a bit unsettled about it going with the other blocks I had made. This block made me think that I should probably be more intentional (maybe careful?) about just how varied in color I make all the blocks that will go in this blanket.

After finishing the above square it hit me that it would probably be a good idea for every block to have at least one color in common, and it probably should be a bold (or obvious) color.

Looking at what I've completed so far, I'm thinking maybe the gold color would be a good color to put in each square to create cohesiveness.  Unfortunately, that would make this newest square
not fit in.  I don't know...  What do you think?:

I think I'm at a crossroads where I need to make a decision about what will make these squares cohesive, and stick with it.  I hesitate to make another square that doesn't have gold because, well... I may end up with another one I'm not sure of.  On the other hand, making some more without gold, and maybe with completely different combinations of colors, will be the only way I can tell if I can successfully use squares that don't have any one color in common.

I'm open to suggestions.  The only thing I'm pretty decided about is that I plan to use the dark blue yarn to border and/or join all the squares, and then to border the blanket itself.   My original thought was as long as I use the blue or another equally dark color in a square, that dark color could be the anchor, bringing a cohesiveness to all the squares.  Looking at the squares above, though, the thing that stands out to me as being most cohesive is the gold color.

I think I know the answer - at least the answer I'm most comfortable with, but I'm always curious how others see things.  Feel free to comment below with your ideas, thoughts, suggestions.

Does a different layout produce a different sense about how they go together?

I had no idea when I started on this project how complicated I could make it.   I shouldn't be surprised.  I am the queen of overthinking things and making the simple complicated.

To see what other YOPPERS are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

Welcome, June...

It's been a beautiful transition into June here in Indiana. All my crocheting this week was spent on two long-term projects, but only one is worth taking a picture of.  While I'm being terribly slow at making progress, when I do find time to work on my Lost in Time Shawl, I love it.  Very much.

Here is what it looks like today:

After I do one more repeat of the popcorn and ruffle rows I'm going to take stock and see if blocking it will make the ends long enough to wrap this around my neck kerchief-style.  I envision wearing this as a scarf with a winter coat so I don't need it as large as a shawl.  The problem is it's a pretty perfect triangle and the side "wings" really need to be longer than the center point if it's going to drape around my neck.    I'm also now seeing the point of the tassels in the original design go beyond aesthetics.   While they are pretty and add a trendy flair, I really I thought I'd forgo tassels (as they seemed a bit fussy for my tastes).  But I can see that tassels on the outer corners will help give a bit more length to that edge as well.  So maybe I'll go trendy with this after all.

I know I've said this before, but I highly recommend the pattern.  Simple and well written (even if a tad awkward translated into English, it's very easy to understand what the designer is saying).  And the yarn I'm using is so nice. It's dk-weight Stylecraft Batik (an 80% acrylic, 20% wool blend).  It's very soft to work with, and should be easy-enough to take care of.  I have found the place most likely for me to find this at a good price is Deramores.   I just bought some more skeins, in fact, because it was 30% off for a few weeks last month.  I bought more without a plan for its use, but after working with it, I can see it would be nice for scarves, shawls, sweaters, baby hats, baby blankets...  all sorts of things.  I look forward to using it again.

The only other thing that saw hook-time was a large corner-to-corner blanket I've been working on since the first of April.   I had to purchase yet another "last-skein" of yarn this past week to finish this and now I'm finally starting the border.  I'd love to get this finished this week and at that point it will be worth taking a picture of.  Hopefully.  At the moment, it's just a big beige rectangle.   A picture of it today would look identical to the picture I took months ago, except that it's larger.  If this is ever going to be interesting enough to take a picture of it again, it will be the border that will make it so. We'll see soon, I hope.

This year's Year of Projects ends later this month, with Sunday, June 25th being our final wrap-up post for the year.  While some YOPPERS follow a different time table, our group officially begins each new YOP year the first week in July and we run through the last week in June of the following year.    If crafting and blogging sounds appealing to you, please consider yourself invited to join us.  Everyone comes up with their own list of goals, dreams, inspirations for crafting (typically knitting and crocheting, but some other crafts find their way into our posts), and then blog throughout the year about what we are making.  We're a small group of bloggers who find inspiration in blogging and seeing what other YOPers are up to.  We are somewhat diverse (in lifestyles, and in crafts) and it's the most encouraging bunch of folks I think I've met online.   Check out our group on Ravelry and consider joining us if the idea appeals.